Work is set to get underway on a major road project along Third and Fourth streets and Riverfront Parkway with $2 million in utility relocation.
The city is to provide $1 million of the work and EPB will cover the other $1 million.
The overall project, which will include the lowering of Riverfront Parkway to grade level in some locations as well as new connections to the parkway, was earlier estimated at $17 million.
The utility relocation is due to take about a year. There will be a new duct bank starting along Third Street. The new path will start just north of Third Street at an existing EPB manhole along Siskin Drive to Third Street then along Fourth Street west to an existing EPB manhole near UTC. The new route is approximately 1,100 feet.
The project includes eliminating Third Street in that section, which is in the vicinity of Battery Place to past CSAS. Fourth Street will become a divided landscaped roadway.
One new connection to Riverfront Parkway involves extending the current Siskin Drive that is by Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation all the way to the parkway.
Another at-grade connection will be at Mabel Street, eliminating the current underpass.
New trails are shown on the opposite side of Riverfront Parkway from the Riverwalk and near new apartments built off Amnicola Highway near Citico Creek.
Officials said of the project:
In the Fall of 2014, the City of Chattanooga initiated an effort to transform the 3rd and 4th Street corridor into an aesthetically pleasing, safe, and accessible facility that reconnects and extends the downtown grid beyond the urban core. Rather than focus solely on moving vehicles faster through the area, CDOT outlined an approach to work collaboratively with the community and stakeholders to identify opportunities for new connections to the existing neighborhoods, downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee River / Riverwalk, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences (CSAS), as well as Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation and Erlanger Medical Center (known as the hospital district).
The resulting 3rd and 4th Street Improvements Masterplan, developed in conjunction with a broader economic development study, identified transportation improvements to support and encourage economic development and provide enhanced connections among the various community assets. Based on extensive public and stakeholder engagement, the concepts outlined in the masterplan were developed to support the planning, engineering and economic analysis for the corridor. The combined planning efforts focused on the creation of a vibrant zone of economic growth defined by an active business community, with an emphasis on health, wellness, and education, good neighborhoods, and a strong sense of place.